Ending a registered partnership

• Dissolution by mutual agreement
• Dissolution due to fault or breakdown
• Death
• Legal basis
• Forms

Dissolution by mutual agreement

If the partners have not been living together for at least six months and both partners acknowledge the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship, they can jointly file an application for the partnership to be dissolved with a district court. The dissolution is subject to the condition that the partners agree on the maintenance and the statutory property claims.

The application may also be submitted orally to the court on its consultation day. The Federal Ministry of Justice provides a form for the dissolution of a registered partnership by mutual agreement.

In this case, the relevant body is in principle the district court in whose jurisdiction the partners have or had their last common habitual residence.

The rules governing the procedure for a divorce by mutual agreement apply by analogy to the dissolution of a registered partnership by mutual agreement.

Dissolution due to fault or breakdown

If, due to the wrongdoing of a partner, the registered partnership has broken down so irretrievably that there is no prospect of a resumption of a true partnership, the other partner can apply for dissolution of the registered partnership. This is particularly the case if physical violence or serious psychological suffering has been inflicted. In principle, the application must be filed within 6 months from the time when the reason for the dissolution came to the notice of the other partner. If the injured partner forgives the other partner, an application for dissolution is not possible.

A partner can also apply for the dissolution of a registered partnership if the partnership has irretrievably broken down due to the behaviour of the other partner resulting from a mental disorder. If one partner suffers from a mental illness or highly infectious or repulsive disease, this also entitles the other partner to apply for dissolution.

If the partners have not shared a common household for more than 3 years, either of the partners can apply for the registered partnership to be dissolved due to irretrievable breakdown.

In this case, the application must in principle be submitted to the district court in whose jurisdiction the partners have or had their last common habitual residence. It can be submitted orally on the court’s consultation day or in writing.

Death

The death of one of the partners terminates the registered partnership.

Legal basis

Sections 13 to 18 and 43 paragraph 1 (26) of the Eingetragene Partnerschaft-Gesetz (EPG)

Forms

Application dissolution Registered partnership by mutual agreement (→ BMJ)^{German text}